That's why I avoid them. Luckily my moms a nurse and never believed in medicating/babying her children. I literally only went to the doctors when I broke my arm at 6 years old(and probably for a few required vaccines that I don't remember).

I always laugh at how quickly people run to the doctor for antibiotics for an illness. That was always moms biggest pet peeve.

But seriously, shame on your brother/sister for medicating her instead of working with her through her diet and exercise.

Clonidine is not addictive and is not being used for blood pressure. It's being used for its sedative effects, not for bp. It also gives additional calming effects the next day. Not agreeing or disagreeing with its use, but it is not for blood pressure. It is used for bp in adults at higher doses, but that's not what it's purpose is in these children.

Do what you think is right but this country is full of fricking pussies who want to take the path of water. The easiest path. Water always finds the easiest path . Don't raise the kids. Just put them on fricking meds.

Don't be like water.

but get ready for the attacks...

never in a million years would I put my child on a behavioral modification medicine.

what % of kids in the US are prescribed these meds as opposed to other industrial nations?

re: My 4 yr old niece is being prescribed ADHD medicationPosted by SmackoverHawg on 10/12/12 at 7:45 am to LSUfan4444

quote:Just setting up for a lifetime of drug dependency. So sick of crappy PCP's and Pediatricians. Just wait, soon enough they will be paid/rebursed by how good they are (their "rating") just like insurance companies have been and hospitals are starting to be.

Depends on how they evaluate us. Actually here in Arkansas, I may be penalized for not precribing enough. They jusdge our "effectiveness" by our average costs of care. By only medicating and diagnosing the few that truly need it, my average cost of care goes up. I usually request a second opinion and counseling/behavioral modification/parental and teacher evals etc. on these kids. This gets expensive. So, this pay for performance you promote actually will result in just the opposite if the wrong indicators are followed. Unfortunately, what I have seen is a economically based eval system and quality is not improved. I will have to either practice sound medicines and face thousands of dollars of penalties each year or I will have to medicate and diagnose more children with ADD/ADHD to bring my average costs down.

re: My 4 yr old niece is being prescribed ADHD medicationPosted by SmackoverHawg on 10/12/12 at 7:49 am to SteveLSU35

quote:Not your kid.......... I'm ADHD and never took meds. I'm damn sure my son is going to be only 6 months.... He won't be on anything.

How did you do in school? Can you maintain employment. If you did good in school and life/career have not been hampered, you do not have ADD/ADHD. You may have symptoms. I did, but I was a straight a student and have excelled in my career. I got some D-hall in highschool for talking to much, but no major issues. So, meds would have been no benefit to me or you if there were no significant impairment.

quote: if you want one underrated medical disaster, that's it. that is going to have serious effects on society the next 20-40 years

It's also the main driving force in the exploding costs of healthcare. People think they should always feel great and never be sick. The slightest discomfort, fatigue, depression or bad day sends them to our offices asking for a pill to fix it.

quote:I was anti-medicine until my son got on it... so all you frickers better stop judging until you need it. My kid went from constantly being in trouble at school to being the smartest in his grade, then skipped a grade because he was way advanced (and the youngest), won the spelling bee, had the highest score in the whole school for the reading program, aced all the end of year exams, and was one of the top players on his little league baseball team that won the local championship.

I don't think anyone is objecting to the medicine on an end-all basis. However, prescribing heavy drugs at a developmental age is a fvcking terrible idea.

Also, I go back and forth on what I think about these cases like your son. No offense but I see way too many people who just fake it for the doctor only because it makes everything easier. They're making better grades cause they can now study for 8 straight hours not because they're that much smarter than everyone else. It's borderline academic PEDs hahaha.

quote:How did you do in school? Can you maintain employment. If you did good in school and life/career have not been hampered, you do not have ADD/ADHD. You may have symptoms. I did, but I was a straight a student and have excelled in my career. I got some D-hall in highschool for talking to much, but no major issues. So, meds would have been no benefit to me or you if there were no significant impairment.

I coached a kid that was an absolute basket case and became heavily medicated... which worked marginally IMHO.. then he went to live with grand parents...

who... did not medicated him but....

took away ALL electronics... and when he acted up at school - and they CALLED or emailed the teachers almost daily.... he got punished had to read during punish time...

kid learned his boundaries..... actually caught back up the grade he failed earlier..